GRISWOLD — Griswold First Selectman Phil Anthony on Wednesday proclaimed his innocence against charges that he solicited a bribe from a contractor in return for a lower permit fee from the town.

"I am happy to be fully vindicated but neither myself nor our residents had any doubt," Anthony said during a brief press conference at Town Hall, where the incumbent Democrat was surrounded by family, supports and his attorney, former Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz.

"My reputation is very important to me, as I have been a public servant for 24 years and my father and brother collectively for over 75 years," Anthony said Wednesday night in prepared remarks.

Anthony has been dogged by allegations of corruption since late September, when Republican first selectman candidate Kevin Skulczyck asked Anthony to confirm that he was the subject of a criminal probe.

Donald Hill, a retired state trooper and a Republican selectman who is also running for re-election, said at the Sept. 26 meeting that he took statements from town employees and found the complaint to be credible. He said he forwarded the statements and supporting documentation to the FBI.

Bysiewicz said Wednesday that Eric Glover, an assistant U.S. attorney in the District of Connecticut and head of its fraud division, told her that federal authorities were not pursuing any legal or criminal action against Anthony.

On Wednesday night, Bysiewicz provided The Bulletin with a state police incident report from Oct. 9, 2013, that corroborated Anthony's statement.

The document, prepared by Trooper Stephen S. McManaway, says that Michael Regan, chief state's attorney for the New London Judicial District, deemed the case against Anthony on Jan. 30 as "not prosecutable."

"Although the allegations made by the complainant and witnesses had been researched heavily, no corroboration could be found with regards to Henry Castaldi's allegations that Philip Anthony had (word redacted)."

According to statements of town workers compiled by Hill and confirmed by Anthony to the The Bulletin on Oct. 3, the incident involves the assessed value of the former Haven Health Care building in Griswold, which was slated for demolition. The property was valued at $1.03 million in 2009, meaning the demolition permit fee would have been $16,800.

Page 2 of 2 - The demolition contractor asked for a lower fee in late December 2011. Anthony said he asked Assessor Leslie Kornosewicz to look into lowering the fee because the release of the new grand list, slated to take place in January, had been pushed back a month.

The change in the grand list dropped the property's value to about $209,000 and the permit fee down to $3,680. The lower fee was paid on Jan. 6, before the new grand list officially took place.

According to Hill's documents, which he provided to The Bulletin, Shannon Webster, the secretary in the building office, said the contactor, Henry Castaldi of West Hartford-based Haz-Pros Inc. told her Anthony wanted a bribe in exchange for the lower permit fee. The bribe, according to Webster's statement, was a lower charge to demolish property Anthony was personally planning to purchase in Lisbon.

Anthony said on Oct. 3 he did tell Castaldi to look at the property in Lisbon, which was never purchased, and give him an estimate on the work. Anthony claims the only statement he made to Castaldi which might have been misconstrued was, "Please sharpen your pencil. I expect you to sharpen your pencil." He claims it is an expression he uses generously in his capacity as first selectman and that it means "give us the best price you can."

Outside of Town Hall Wednesday, Skulczyck said he would not revisit the matter between now and the election. But he stood by his decision to press Anthony on the matter in September.

"The people of Griswold had a right to know. I wish Mr. Anthony brought this up when he learned of it," he said. "I will not bring it up in a debate. To me, this is a done issue."

Longtime Griswold resident Betty Knox, one of about 25 people who attended Wednesday's press conference, believes Anthony's innocence was the result of a conspiracy.

"I don't believe a word that comes out of his mouth. My own personal opinion was this was squashed in Hartford," she said. "If this investigation started two years ago and Mr. Anthony alleges this was politically motivated, my question is, 'By whom?' "